NASA/SP-2011-34 (VER. 1.0), NASA SPECIAL PUBLICATION: NASA RISK MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK (NOV-2011)

NASA/SP-2011-34 (VER. 1.0), NASA SPECIAL PUBLICATION: NASA RISK MANAGEMENT HANDBOOK (NOV-2011)., The purpose of this handbook is to provide guidance for implementing the Risk Management (RM) requirements of NASA Procedural Requirements (NPR) document NPR 8000.4A, Agency Risk Management Procedural Requirements [1], with a specific focus on programs and projects, and applying to each level of the NASA organizational hierarchy as requirements flow down. This handbook supports RM application within the NASA systems engineering process, and is a complement to the guidance contained in NASA/SP-2007-6105, NASA Systems Engineering Handbook [2]. Specifically, this handbook provides guidance that is applicable to the common technical processes of Technical Risk Management and Decision Analysis established by NPR 7123.1A, NASA Systems Engineering Process and Requirements [3]. These processes are part of the ―Systems Engineering Engine‖ (Figure 1) that is used to drive the development of the system and associated work products to satisfy stakeholder expectations in all mission execution domains, including safety, technical, cost, and schedule. Like NPR 7123.1A, NPR 8000.4A is a discipline-oriented NPR that intersects with product-oriented NPRs such as NPR 7120.5D, NASA Space Flight Program and Project Management Requirements [4]; NPR 7120.7, NASA Information Technology and Institutional Infrastructure Program and Project Management Requirements [5]; and NPR 7120.8, NASA Research and Technology Program and Project Management Requirements [6]. In much the same way that the NASA Systems Engineering Handbook is intended to provide guidance on the implementation of NPR 7123.1A, this handbook is intended to provide guidance on the implementation of NPR 8000.4A. This handbook provides guidance for conducting RM in the context of NASA program and project life cycles, which produce derived requirements in accordance with existing systems engineering practices that flow down through the NASA organizational hierarchy. The guidance in this handbook is not meant to be prescriptive. Instead, it is meant to be general enough, and contain a sufficient diversity of examples, to enable the reader to adapt the methods as needed to the particular risk management issues that he or she faces. The handbook highlights major issues to consider when managing programs and projects in the presence of potentially significant uncertainty, so that the user is better able to recognize and avoid pitfalls that might otherwise be experienced.specific issues of the type that are routinely encountered in NASA programs and projects. An example notional planetary mission is postulated and used throughout the document as a basis for illustrating the execution of the various process steps that constitute risk management in a NASA context (―yellow boxes‖). In addition, key terms and concepts are defined throughout the document (―blue boxes‖). Where applicable, guidance is also given on the spectrum of techniques that are appropriate to use, given the spectrum of circumstances under which risks are managed, ranging from narrow-scope risk management at the hardware component level that must be accomplished using a minimum of time and resources, to broad-scope risk management involving multiple organizations upon which significant resources may be brought to bear. The fact that new techniques are discussed is not intended to automatically imply that a whole new set of analyses is needed. Rather, the risk analyses should take maximum advantage of existing activities, while also influencing them as needed in order to produce results that address objectives, at an appropriate level of rigor to support robust decision making. In all cases, the goal is to apply a level of effort to the task of risk management that provides assurance that objectives are met.